Bride of the Night Stars
by smiles mimi
Summary: UPDATE: CH.3 UP. Stella is sacrificed by her family as a bride to marry the feared Night God, but there is an unusual twist to this story.
1. Discarded Butterfly

_i decided to put my other story (Amor est Vitae Essentia) on hiatus for awhile until i finally get my interest to continue writing it back. sorry guys, but still, i thank you for your support!  
now i have decided to try my writing skills at something completely different for me to see how it would turn out. and this is the result. i have never written anything as strange as this before, trust me. if you're wondering about the use of Chinese words/setting/and other stuff, it was because i was influenced by a Chinese drama i was watching the other day haha therefore the characters might be kind of OOC. *******oh, and i forgot to mention that this is an adaptation of the korean manhwa Bride of the Water God, forgive me i just decided to use ff characters as replacements and use some different names :)_

_so yeah, here it is. feedback would be nice, and it would make me very happy. so without further adieu, i would like to present: **Final Fantasy Versus XIII: Bride of the Night God.**_  
_happy reading :)_

**Disclaimer: i own nothing.**

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_Final Fantasy Versus XIII: Bride of the Night God  
Chapter 1: Discarded Butterfly  
_

Outside her window, cherry blossom petals had started floating down from the nearest cherry blossom tree. _Strange_, she mused as she leaned out the window. Today was not an ordinary day for her, because it was the day that she would be cast away by her family and her neighbors "for the sake of the village," they had told her. For her, it was like a death sentence. The happy atmosphere radiating from the outside world juxtaposed with how she felt today. Everything seemed to be against her on her wedding day.

The women of the village had prepared her for this day very well by doing her make-up, hair, and dressing her up in a rich oak white wedding dress draped with an elegantly embroidered hooded-cloak. Yes, today was her wedding day. But it would be no normal wedding for her. She would be wed the God of Night in his kingdom. In other words, she was going to be sacrificed to him for the sake of the village. She had heard stories about the Night God, ever since she was a child. Stella had always heard that was a monster, and now, she wondered if that was indeed true.

The village shaman died a week ago, and her last words to the villagers was for them to appease the Night God by sacrificing to him a beautiful bride, or else he will put a curse upon the village that will last for hundreds of years. At first, they did not seem to take to heart the words of the recently deceased shaman. But as the days went by, meteors kept falling on the village night after night. Because of that, farm lands have been affected deeply, and some people even died from the falling stars as well as live-stock. Being the cowards they were, the villagers acted hastily and chose the poor, but beautiful Stella to fulfill that role. In actuality, it was more like she was forcibly volunteered by her father to be the sacrifice so that he would get the money offered for the family of the bride. To put it simply, she was selfishly sold by her own father.

"Stella," a voice called her from the entrance of the room.

Turning around, Stella saw the women of the village all crowded around that single small door.

"It is time."

The villagers had arranged a small procession filled with the smell of sweet flowers and the images of joyous faces. As she was escorted down the road that led to the large lake, people gave their last words to her as their farewell. Some even said things under their breath in hopes that she would not hear them, but they were wrong.

"Thank-you for being the Bride of the Night God," some would say, grateful for her sacrifice.

"I am so glad she is not a daughter of mine," others would say, relieved.

"Someone needs to be sacrificed on our behalf," she heard.

"Please don't hate us. None of us wanted this to happen either…"

Their words meant nothing to her. _It's all a lie_, she thought. By then she was already sitting in a boat that the villagers had prepared for this day. Without any hesitation, they pushed the boat out into the lake and looked on with smiling faces as Stella began fading into the distance.

Minutes passed. Alone in the middle of the lake at last, Stella's thoughts drifted to her mother and little sister. Tears began to well up in her eyes and she wiped them away with her wrist. This could be the last time she would ever see them again, and she didn't even say a proper farewell to them since they were banned from seeing her.

An unusually strong gust of wind flew by past her and surged up a large tornado of water from the lake. Stella eyes widened with at the sight and noticed with terror that it was headed straight for her. Within moments, it submerged the entire small boat, taking Stella along with it. Soon, the cold waters had rendered her unconscious as she sank deeper and deeper into the lake.

Stella awoke to the sound of rushing waves and a cool breeze across her forehead. Getting up from the wet ground slowly, she noticed that her cloak had slipped from her shoulders and was nowhere to be seen. She was simply left in her wedding dress with absolutely no idea as to what was going on.

The first thing she saw was a large and old (but still intact) palace, just like the one the emperor of her country had. She gaped at the size of the building and its extravagance. It seemed to extend farther, from what her eyes could tell. There were large amounts of trees and exotic flowers, and she liked the fact that their natural beauty seemed to be in harmony with the palace. It was a beautiful place indeed, but…

"This…is the Night Kingdom?" she asked out loud to no one in particular. "Why is it not nighttime when it's called the Night Kingdom?"

Stella suddenly heard approaching footsteps coming towards her, and she turned to find a short old man standing a couple feet behind her dressed in elegant imperial robes.

"Welcome. My name is Jiao-Long," he said, his voice kind and gentle. "I am in charge of this palace. Please follow me and I will guide you to the Night God."

Her guide, Jiao-Long, escorted her into the palace and made her walk down at least three, long yet extravagant corridors until he finally told her to stop.

"Please wait right here," he instructed, and he quietly disappeared behind a corner.

Alone once more, Stella began to wonder if all this was real.

"…Am I still alive?" she asked herself quietly. "Or could it be…that I'm really dead…"

A series of thumping sounds caught her attention, and she turned her head to the direction where it originated. Her eyes fell upon a small boy, no older than the age of eight years old. He was dressed up in robes as well, but they seemed fancier than the ones of her guide. The boy had a striking shade of dark blue hair, and he picked up a small red ball from the ground. Noticing another person in the hall besides him, he simply stared at her with deep blue eyes.

_A little boy?_ she thought. _What's he doing here?_

Stella approached him with a smile. "Hello little boy," she greeted. "Do you live here?"

The boy with the deep blue eyes said nothing in response. Before she knew it, he walked right past her with the red ball in his hands and he had completely ignored her.

"What a rude child," she muttered.

She was clearly irritated at his impoliteness and frowned at his actions, but soon brushed them off as she began walking down the corridor. Stella was lost in her own thoughts when she was suddenly brought back to reality realizing that she had gotten lost inside the palace.

"I should have just waited for Jiao-Long to come," she muttered, frowning to herself.

Suddenly, Stella saw movement coming from the beautiful garden on her right. Immediately, she hid herself behind the nearest circular pillar while holding a hand over her mouth. She slowly allowed herself to have a look from behind her hiding place and saw a man with short blonde hair and black and grey robes standing in the garden. He had his back turned to her so she could not see his face.

Stella's heart started pounding uncontrollably as the words of the villagers about the Night God circulated around in her mind in a maelstrom of chaos.

_He is a monster!  
I heard that he eats humans without a second thought…  
How horrible! A very ugly and horrible monster indeed…_

_Could this man be the Night God? _she thought to herself, biting her bottom lip nervously.

Turning around to take another look, Stella was surprised at what she saw this time. The sunlight seemed to illuminate the man as he turned around to view a bundle of beautiful white orchids. His face was kind, and she would even have to say quite handsome. His eyes were a lovely shade of grey, with a story hidden behind those orbs. His smile too, made her heart pause for a few beats in complete astonishment.

"Is everything alright?" Jiao-Long asked, startling her. He had appeared behind her from out of nowhere. "I have been searching for you."

Stella turned back to look for the mysterious man in the garden, but he was nowhere to be seen.

_I didn't think that the Night God could be so beautiful_, she thought.

"Come," the old man beckoned. "I will take you to the Night God."

Jiao-Long took her down another long corridor before stopping in front of a large and elegantly carved door. The door opened at his touch, and all the while, Stella's heart did not stop its rapid beating.

Immediately, her eyes fell upon the same man that she had seen in the garden minutes ago. He was leaned against a marble pillar with an open book in his hand. The man looked up with his grey eyes when the two visitors entered the room.

"Jiao-Long," the man said, acknowledging the old man.

"My dear, this is Commander Feng-Zhu," the old man said. "And this person…is the Night God, Caelum."

Jiao-Long extended his hand towards a silk blue curtain and slowly pulled it aside so that Stella would be able to see her husband. Her eyes widened as she saw that her husband was none other than the little boy with deep blue eyes that had ignored her not ten minutes ago. There was quite a large height difference between them, she noted as she tried to process what Jiao-Long had just said.

…_You're kidding_, was what Stella wanted to say. But she bit her tongue and began thinking of the positive things that came out of this. At least he wasn't a horrible monster like everyone else had thought.

It was later in the evening that Stella and Caelum finally had some peace and quiet. Stella was escorted to his room, which was one of the highest ones up in the palace. And from his room, the ground was a fair distance away. They sat together in his room to just simply let her have time to adjust to everything that had happened that day. She sat down on his bed and thought that it was rather comfortable. He on the other hand, didn't say anything as he sat on a chair opposite from her. The long silence between them was rather awkward, so she decided to start up a conversation.

"I'm surprised," she told him honestly. "I didn't think that the Night God would end up being you."

"…Thank-you," he replied nonchalantly. "And I'm shocked as well. I didn't think that my wife would be a woman filled with the grace of a man."

Was this kid trying to be funny? Stella was ticked off at his words and was inwardly fuming.

_This little brat!_

"…Don't you miss them at all?" he suddenly asked. "Your family…"

Stella had calmed herself down from his previous answer, and now, she wondered what had sparked this random question. "No," she replied. "I don't miss them."

The boy rolled his eyes and looked away. "Humans…I don't understand them at all. They—"

He was cut off by a soft sound coming from the bed. He turned to find Stella sleeping. Minutes passed as he simply looked upon her sleeping face. It had been a hard day for her no doubt.

Looking out the large open window, the dark sky had finally claimed over the light. He saw the bright moon shine in all its brilliance as the petals of flowers from a nearby tree floated down softly.

Then it was time.

On the table, the small fire on the candle had begun to flicker. On the nearby walls, a person walking by the room would have clearly been able to see the dark shadow of a small boy suddenly grow and grow until finally, the resulting image was the shadow of a grown young man. Standing up from his seat, he walked towards the bed in which Stella slept and watched her with the same deep blue eyes.

"Mom…" Stella whispered in her sleep.

He saw tears trail down from her closed eyes down her pale cheeks and sighed. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he picked up a few strands of her long blonde hair and began gently playing with them between his fingers.

"You are a liar young lady…"

* * *

_so in all honesty, how was it?_


	2. Another Side of Life

_ok so semi-short chapter update! i think. anyways, here you go. the second chapter of my second story Final Fantasy Versus XIII: Bride of the Night Stars. I apologize for not updating in a while, but I've been doing a lot of things lately, like catching up on summer homework. ehh, you know how that is. and i won't be updating for a while longer, because tomorrow i'm taking a trip with my family to seattle and i'm not quite sure how long i will be gone. and i'm sorry if there are any mistakes in this chapter. i was doing this one in a rush._

_*i've made a change or 2 in the first chapter, so feel free to re-read it if you want. it might explain a few things about this chapter (like the reason why they sacrificed the main character), so yeah._

_again, this is an adaptation of the korean manhwa Bride of the Water God by Yun Mi-kyung. Credit does not go to me and i do **not** own anything.  
feedback/comments are love and happy reading! :)_

_**Disclaimer: i own nothing.**_

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_Final Fantasy Versus XIII: Bride of the Night God  
Chapter 2: Another Side of Life  
_

Stella woke to the light that fell through the open window. It was definitely morning, but she still felt tired. She snuggled in the white sheets for a few more seconds before coming to a startling realization. The smell of the sheets was not familiar. And neither was the feel of the fabric.

Stella sat up with a start and looked around her, taking in the setting.

"That's right," she said to herself. "This is not home…"

Stella stood up and looked in the nearest mirror to smooth out her long, white robes before wandering around anywhere. Although she was here for almost a day, she still was not the least bit used to this place.

_A strange room_, she thought. _And strange people._

Her thoughts drifted off to her "husband," Caelum. Her mind suddenly recalled something rather unusual. She felt it was unusual, but she couldn't remember.

_I thought I had a dream yesterday, but I can't seem to recall it_, she thought as she finished tidying up and brushing her hair. _It was something about Caelum though_.

Stella walked out of the room, and walking down the hall, the first person she saw was her husband. She smiled at the small child that stood in her way.

"Did you sleep well Caelum?" she asked with a smile as she gently patted the top of his head.

"You…" he started. "Who do you think I am?" he asked, clearly annoyed at her treating him so childishly.

Stella ignored his outburst when she saw his shirt. "Oh? Your button is not on right," she said. She began to hum a soft tune as she made sure that the buttons to his shirt were fastened on completely.

"…I am not a child!" he yelled as he ran off away from her.

Stella sighed. Sometimes children just cannot be helped, she figured.

The words of the old man she had met yesterday, Jiao-Long, echoed in her thoughts. _If you need anything, please call me Stella_, he had said. The old man seemed like a nice person.

Her thoughts then drifted to Caelum and she shook her head in amusement. _Caelum can be a bother, but he does have his cute side_, she thought as she remembered him with the red ball in his hands.

------

In the early mornings, it was routine for Caelum to practice his writing in his own personal study. The thought of Stella suddenly made him jolt, thus ruining what he was trying to write.

_I forgot. I should have warned her not to go into the old building area_, he thought, looking out the window. _Oh well, I'm sure she'll be fine_.

------

In a different building, Stella found herself facing the ruins of an old building. If a person passing Stella had seen her face, they would no doubt think she was lost.

"I've lost my way again. But why are these old buildings here?" she asked to no one in particular.

She walked until she stop at a large old door. With the mere touch of her finger, the doors began to slowly open, revealing a bright garden-like room that was filled with overflowing beauty.

Hearing approaching footsteps, Stella turned around to see who it could be.

"Oh? This is not a place where anyone can just come and go," the man standing before her said.

Stella was flustered. "Ah! I'm sorry. I didn't know…"

"You're Caelum's bride, right?" he asked.

The man standing before her hand long silver hair that seemed to flow like a waterfall. He wore rectangular looking spectacles and a set of intricately designed white robes. The spectacles rendered Stella unable to see his face completely, but somehow, she thought he had a very kind expression.

"My name is Gen. Doctor and inventor," he said, starting off the introductions. He seemed like a laid-back man from what she could tell.

"I'm Stella," she said.

Suddenly, he reached out and took her hand in his and began examining it. "By any chance, have you experienced any pain? A cold? A cough? Anything?" he asked, still closely examining her hand.

_This doctor sure is bold_, she thought. "No, I'm fine," she said, pulling her hand back politely.

"I see. Well then, let me write you a charm," he insisted, taking out a piece of paper.

"A charm?"

Gen nodded. "Yes. Do you have a special wish?"

Stella shrugged at his question. "Not really. I just wanted the people of my village to not worry about any more meteors."

"What?" He looked up at her and thought for a moment. His face full of contemplation. "I doubt it," he said.

_What?_ "…Why would you say that?" Stella asked, slightly confused at his words.

"My dear, the meteors haven't stopped falling."

------

"Caelum!" Stella called as she pushed open the door to his study room. "Is it true?" she asked, out of breath.

Caelum looked up from his books and scrolls. His face calm and perfectly composed. "What are you being so noisy for?"

"Is it true?" she asked again, this time with more force. "You haven't stopped the meteors? If another set of meteors come down, people may die! Everyone is hoping that they would stop! It might be a waste of time for you, but for humans, their land is their life! If the meteors keep falling, then it would destroy the people's lands and even kill them!"

Still, the Night God did not react to her words. He looked down at his scrolls as if she had not said anything. At that, Stella lost it.

"How can you possibly play with the lives of humans like that?!"

Caelum's eyes snapped back up, and he stared at her with his cold blue eyes.

"That's the law of cause and effect," he said. "How much nature returns depends on how much is received. Aren't humans the ones who are really selfish?"

The look on her face told him to continue to elaborate on his words.

"As long as one is safe, it doesn't matter what happens to other people. Shouldn't you know that better than anyone?" he asked, his cold blue eyes still lingering on her.

Stella went stiff. The words of the villagers who sacrificed her rang in her ears and she felt a lump in her throat.

_If we sacrifice someone, we can live! Just one person!  
Just one person…_

Caelum reached over to pick up his cup of tea. "Also…aren't you misunderstanding something?" he asked. "Why don't you try understanding your own situation?"

His words made Stella turn bright red, both in embarrassment and in anger and frustration. Quickly, she turned to leave from his room and began walking like a mad-man down the hallway.

_I was completely mistaken. I have been fooled by his appearance_, she thought as she rushed down the hall. _I forgot that I am facing a bad tempered God._

Out of nowhere, a hand gently grabbed her wrist. Stella didn't want to deal with anything right now.

"What is it?" she asked in a loud voice. She turned around to find the man she had seen in the garden yesterday, Feng-Zhu, with a soft expression on his face. He did not seem fazed at the loudness of her voice.

"Ah, Feng-Zhu, I'm sorry," she apologized.

He shook his head, indicating to her that he didn't need an apology. "Did something happen?" he asked as he released his grip on her hand.

Stella shook her head in the negative. "No, it's nothing."

His gentle smile caught her off guard, and she felt her heart skip a beat for a moment.

"If you need any help or if you get tired of anything, call me," he said, walking in the opposite direction of where she was going.

Stella smiled at his kindness. "Thank-you. I don't want to escape from this place yet. I have to try my best!" she called after him.

------

It was finally late at night and the moon was bright and beautifully full. Caelum and the doctor, Gen were enjoying themselves underneath the moonlight while drinking wine on the balcony of Caelum's study. The two of them were comfortably sitting on a fair number of silk cushions and they were draped with soft creamy sheets.

Like every night, Caelum had turned from a young child into a handsome young man. And it was unusual for him to be so quiet at night like this. Not once had to turned his head from looking at the moon and conversing with the doctor as he usually did.

That was when Gen had to break the silence. "Why are you being so ill-tempered, Caelum? It's not like you don't like her," he said.

"It's not me," the Night God denied, taking a sip from his white wine cup. "The humans are killing themselves."

Gen shook his head. "But even so, are you going to make your cute bride cry?"

The memory of Stella's crying face the night before replayed in his memory, and for the moment, he stayed silent.

…_Hmph. Well, I guess I have no choice_, he thought. _God is meant to forgive humans even while he is betrayed each time._

With a small wave of his hand, the Night God called back the large and deathly meteors that were due to come falling from the sky that night. Stella's village waited in anxiousness and worry the entire night, anticipating the wrath of the Night God unleashed through the frightening meteors…but none came. And for a while, no meteors fell from the sky on that village.

Some of the villagers might have remembered Stella, who sacrificed herself to become the bride of Caelum. And in the future, this will be passed down as a story. The story of a violent God of Night who was calmed by a girl who sacrificed herself to save a village.

------

Stella was standing outside on the balcony of her own room. Even though it was so quiet, she did not even hear Gen approach from behind her. She was startled when she felt a hand fall on her shoulder, but when she saw Gen, she blew out a sigh of relief.

"So…Caelum stopped the meteors from falling," he said.

Stella nodded. "Yes, I'm glad for that." It had been at least two days since the meteors had stopped falling down on her village, and for that, Stella was grateful.

"What's with the fickleness all of a sudden?" he continued as he turned to her. Stella did not answer his question and looked away.

"…Aren't you curious?" he asked, Stella's confused gaze turned to him. "About what happened to all of Caelum's previous brides?"

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_see you guys later :)_


	3. Tragic Wonders

_hello everyone i'm back from vacation! :) anyways, here you go, the third chapter of this story.  
i realized that the names i have used for the characters other than the two main ones might be slightly confusing to some. i used chinese names for them, so if you ever do get confused, please tell me and i will do my best to clarify them for you. but i hope you guys are following the story all right. the main characters might be a little OOC, but that's because i'm using the personalities of the original manhwa characters and just plugging names in and adding/adjusting a bit. but i hope it's good either way. happy reading!_

_as always, this story is my adaptation of the korean manhwa **Bride of the Water God **by Yun Mi-kyung. Credit does not go to me and i do **not** own anything._

**Disclaimer: i own nothing **_(but please love me anyway) :)_

_

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_

_Final Fantasy Versus XIII: Bride of the Night God  
Chapter 3: Tragic Wonders  
_

_The next day…_

It was late in the afternoon, and the bright and blinding sun was high up in the sky. It was hotter than usual, Stella noted. Even in her light white robes, she could not help but feel slightly uncomfortable as she was walking throughout the palace grounds. The water was clean and pure as ever. For a moment, the light that reflected off the surface of the water blinded her. Stella shut her eyes instinctively to avoid the uncomfortable sensation as she walked.

A nearby pillar provided her with some shade from the overpowering sun. And as she opened her eyes, Stella saw a small figure on the ground a couple feet away from where she stood. In an instant, she realized it was Caelum and began to panic.

"Caelum?!" she called, running over to him and pulling him into the nearest shaded area. "Caelum! Are you all right? Wake up! Can you hear me?"

"Ughhh…" he groaned. "I'm fine, Gen…" he managed to get out.

_He thinks I'm his doctor?_ Stella thought, surprised.

Her thoughts involuntarily drifted to the strange doctor called 'Gen' that she met a couple of days ago. She shook her head to erase those thoughts and looked at the small boy in her arms. He clearly was not fine. The boy looked like he had a fever. His face was flushed, and he was sweating and breathing heavily. What a liar.

Stella frowned. "I'm Stella! Pull yourself together!"

------

"Don't worry. Caelum's the Night God, so he's rather weak to sunlight. He'll be fine," Gen said to an anxious looking Stella.

The three of them were in Caelum's room. It had been difficult for Stella to locate the doctor, and she felt so relieved when she found him in the library of the palace. She silently cursed this place for being so damn big. Stella could not even count the number of times that she had gotten lost in the Night palace.

The Night God looked better now than he did fifteen minutes ago. He was sleeping comfortably on his huge bed with a harmless face that seemed to contrast with his unfriendly personality. Stella couldn't help but smile at that.

"I'm sure that you got scared, Stella," Gen continued.

_You have no idea_, she thought.

"Here. Drink some tea and calm down," he said. The doctor offered her a warm cup of tea before he sat down in his own seat, and she accepted the small cup with a small nod.

Stella took a small sip, and the warm feeling of the honey-coloured drink going down her throat made her feel so much better. Her thoughts turned to the small boy on the bed, and her mind suddenly started a kaleidoscope of the events that had happened in the past half hour. Stella gave a sigh in relief that it was all over.

"I've heard that you have lost your way several times now, right?" Gen said as he poured himself a cup of tea. "The Night Kingdom is really big, so be careful that you don't disappear all of a sudden."

"Like all of Caelum's other brides?" Stella asked before she could stop herself.

For a moment, the doctor was shocked himself. He didn't think that she would bring up that specific topic any time soon. His gaze turned to her, and through his rectangular spectacles, he noticed that she was biting her lower lip as she waited for his answer. The girl looked nervous, but she was trying to put on a brave front. He had to give her credit for that.

A small smile played on his lips. "Well, something like that. My my, aren't you a curious young lady," he mused.

Stella had a feeling that he wasn't going to surrender everything he knew easily.

"You didn't tell me about what happened to them because you had to leave last night," she said. She remembered that their conversation had been cut short because of a sudden errand that he had received.

"Can you please tell me about what you know?" she asked.

The doctor seemed to consider it for a moment. "Hmm…this is going to be rather difficult to explain."

"…What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I myself haven't been here that long, so I don't know the specific details," he said. "But I do know that Caelum's first wife was a woman named 'Ah Lam.'"

"..Ah Lam?" Stella repeated.

Gen nodded. "She was the only woman Caelum ever really loved, but she died young."

The doctor stood up from his seat and walked over to the edge of Caelum's bed. His hand reached down to the boy's forehead to feel his temperature. Stella's eyes never left him, which indicated that he should continue on with what he knew.

"I don't know why she died," he said, continuing. "And I don't know what happened to all of his other wives."

As those words fell from his lips, Stella felt two feelings roll up into one. Relief and disappointment. One part of her wanted to hear what really happened to Caelum's previous brides, but the other was slightly nervous. Now, she would only continue to wonder…

"But there is one thing we can all be sure about," the doctor added. "Since he can't be openly honest, a lot of people end up misunderstanding him. But Caelum's not a bad person, so don't worry."

"Yes, I know…" Stella replied softly. _After all, he did stop the meteors from falling_, she thought.

"…If you're still worried about it, let me do a palm reading for you," Gen offered, smiling. "If you know about the future, then you will probably be worried about it less."

Gen gently took Stella's right hand and began to read the lines and creases on her palm. As he read, his eyes fell on something that froze him up, for a moment or two. Stella's words brought him back to reality.

"What?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"

The doctor looked up into her curious eyes and smiled. "Nope. You'll live happily ever after."

------

_The next day…_

"Caelum! Caelum!" a young girl called out to the Night God. "I heard that you collapsed so I got worried. Gen told you to go into the forest to recuperate, right? Since I'm worried, I'll go with you!"

"How troublesome," Caelum muttered.

He was practicing his calligraphy on his desk, and he needed the light from the sun to shine on his paper. But now, there was this little girl standing right before him blocking his much needed light as well as ruining his concentration.

"Come on, let's go!"

"No thanks. I'm not going there to play, Hua," the Night God said firmly. "You're annoying me."

The face that the three hundred year old goddess made urged him to drop his things and just go outside. Although she was three hundred years old, the goddess appeared and acted like an immature little girl. The two of them had been friends for quite some time. Only she seemed to stay the same, height-wise anyway. And Hua had a way of convincing people to seeing things her way.

His defenses were crumbling. So much for the feared Night God. Who knew he could be undone by the pleading face of a sad little girl?

"…Fine," he said, rolling his eyes. "But don't bother me when we're outside."

Caelum had given in sooner than she had expected; and at that, Hua smiled widely at her victory.

------

They were all in the middle of a large forest now. From the towering rocks, there were small, rushing waterfalls that flowed directly into a peaceful stream that surrounded a pagoda. All around them were willows, flowers, and large trees, some whose roots formed arcs all around the wide stream. The rays of sunlight filtered through the trees down to the water which seemed to brilliantly glitter. _Such a peaceful and beautiful place_, Stella thought as she stepped into the clear stream water with her bare feet.

The coolness of the water helped her to relax as she took a deep breath and admired her surroundings. A moment later, she noticed that her husband, Caelum was sitting in the pagoda with his friend, she assumed. Stella had not seen this person before, but she let that thought slide by. The place was lovely, and it was a shame that Caelum was not fully out in the open to enjoy it.

"Stella, is this your first time in the forest?" the Goddess Hua asked. Stella had just met the small goddess moments ago, and she seemed very friendly. Within a few moments of their meeting, the two got along just fine. They would definitely be life-long friends.

Stella nodded as she lifted up her robes a bit to avoid them from getting wet. "Yes, this is my first time here. This place is beautiful."

She saw the small girl nod in agreement. "I like the plants because they're honest. They don't deceive you. And they return as much love as they receive."

…While the two girls were conversing in the stream, Caelum and his friend the Fire God sat in silence as they watched the two girls enjoying themselves in the water. Between the two gods, one was clearly more bored than the other.

"Huo-li, as the Fire God, why do you come to the Night Kingdom so often?" Caelum asked. His friend had appeared this morning simply with the reason that he wanted to 'hang-out,' which the two rarely ever did until Stella came along. It was all too clear to Caelum that Huo-li wanted to see Stella.

"Hmph, mind your own business. I'm not here to see you," the Fire God answered.

The two glared at each other in silence as the tension momentarily heightened but fell soon enough.

…Here, Stella was at peace. At the moment, she was alone while the others were talking underneath the shade of the pagoda. As she walked around the stream to explore this area of the forest, she continuously felt the slick scales of the small fish swimming by past her feet.

A sudden sound caught her attention. Looking up in the direction of the sound, Stella saw that it was a fairly large brown dog. It whimpered as if it was injured, but as far as she could tell, it wasn't hurt in any way. Stella slowly kneeled down and extended her hand, motioning the creature to come to her. This was the first time she had seen an animal in the Night Kingdom, she realized.

"How did you come all the way out here?" she asked.

The dog slowly made its way towards her. Stella began to smile.

"Are you alone? Why did you leave the rest of your family to be here alone?" she questioned.

The dog began to whine, and she took that as a negative answer to her question. Now, it was within touching distance. Stella couldn't help but feel some sort of connection with it, because it was in somewhat of the same situation she was in.

"I'm alone too. We're similar, somehow…" she said as she began reaching out to pet the animal.

From where he sat on the pagoda, the Night God sensed that something was deadly wrong. Immediately, his eyes scanned the area for Stella, and he finally saw her reaching out for an unusual animal at the far end of the stream.

"Stella No!" he yelled at her. _It's too late_, he thought as he watched the scene playing before him.

Stella turned to the sound of someone calling her name, but then her eyes caught a growing shadow looming over her. It all happened so fast that all she saw was a complete blur. The dog suddenly turned into a ferocious lion-type beast with eyes as red as human blood, and it was about to tear off her extended hand. A deafening roar sounded from its mouth as it lunged towards her. Stella was unable to move.

Suddenly, she felt herself being quickly pulled away from the beast. And to her surprise, she saw Feng-Zhu shielding her with his own body. The beast had lunged with Stella as its target, but instead, its fangs bit deeply into the Commander's arm.

Feng-Zhu freed his profusely bleeding arm from the mouth of the creature. Angry now, the beast growled louder and glared at his opponent with deathly eyes from hell. It made an attempt to jump again, but in an instant, it disappeared in a bright flash of light. Feng-Zhu had killed it with his bow and arrow.

The others watched the scene from the pagoda and they all let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew. As expected from Feng-Zhu. He's the best archer in the realm of the Gods," Huo-li said as he walked to the place where Feng-Zhu had killed the creature. "Hmm…but why is a 'Nian*' here?"

Shocked, Stella had collapsed into the water of the stream in disbelief. Images of what had happened rapidly streamed through her mind, but her frozen trance was interrupted by a very irritated voice.

"You idiot!" the Night God yelled, causing her to jolt a little at his loud voice. "Will you come to your senses only when you're dead?! Why can't you be more careful?!"

_Tsk, he's not even helping_, Stella thought as her husband raged on about her stupidity. _Moreover he has such a loud voice_.

Stella was soaked by now and she started to stand up to get out of the cold stream. Somehow, she couldn't stand. But instead, she felt an odd, sharp pain on her right ankle.

Stella winced. "Ow…"

Within moments, Hua was standing next to her when she realized what was wrong with her friend.

"What should we do? I think she sprained her ankle, and Gen is not here," the small goddess said in a worried voice.

"I—" Caelum began, but was cut off.

"I will take her," Feng-Zhu said in a low voice.

He leaned down and gently picked her up from the cold stream and began walking towards the palace. Stella was flustered, but once again, she remained silent as the commander carried her to her room with Hua trailing behind.

As the three disappeared from sight, a thought occurred to the Fire God.

"Seeing them like that makes you wonder…" Huo-li began. "…don't they look good together?"

The Night God did not say anything, but his eyes remained at the place where the three had disappeared. Huo-li shook his head at his friend's silence.

"Fine, fine…should we go back too Caelum?" he asked, stretching.

The Fire God went first, leaving Caelum alone on the pagoda. His hand clenched together into a fist as he looked at his small hand. The image of Stella and Feng-Zhu together burned in his mind. Somehow…seeing them leave in that manner…it made him feel so strange.

_What was this unusual feeling?_

------

_That night…_

It was night now, and the wind was blowing soft pink petals around the palace grounds. All was quiet as the moonlight danced around in an atmosphere of unrest for Stella. She had been tossing and turning in bed for over an hour now. And still, sleep seemed to evade her. Eventually, she gave up and began staring at the flickering light of a nearby candle, watching as the light danced on the walls.

"Why can't I sleep?" she quietly asked herself.

Her hand went down to her injured ankle, and she felt the tight bandages that Feng-Zhu had wrapped around her injury. She smiled at the kindness that he had shown her every day since she had been here. She owed him a lot.

Strangely, her ankle did not hurt as much anymore. Stella guessed that she was fine enough to walk around the long balcony of her room at this point. She figured that since she didn't feel like sleeping, she might as well go around and enjoy the midnight scenery of the Night Kingdom.

…On the other side of the palace, two men were conversing about the day's events in room lit only by the light of the moon.

"I heard that there was an incident this afternoon," Gen said. "I'm glad that Feng-Zhu was close by to watch over things. You don't have enough strength during the day, so you must be careful Caelum."

"…I know," the Night God answered as he gazed at this hand now. The difference between his hand now and his hand in the afternoon was indeed striking, but he was still the same person…

Gen noticed this and a small smile crept upon his lips. "Does the young lady know yet? About your form at night. How come you're still hiding it?" he asked.

Caelum stood up from where he sat to open the door that led to the outside balcony. As he opened the door, his loose white robes gently fluttered in the wind. The feel of the wind on his skin felt nice after the day's events.

"It's not like I purposely wanted to hide it. It just happened," the Night God said.

The doctor shook his head in the negative. "When are you going to tell her? Don't you feel kind of guilty towards your bride?"

Caelum turned around to face his friend. His eyes shined a brilliant shade of blue. "I'll tell her when the opportunity comes…"

And with that, he left the room.

…_She should be sleeping by now_, the Night God thought as he made his way to her chambers.

Rather than talking the long way, he decided to take the shortest way possible. By jumping from the ground up to her balcony. His clothes made quiet ruffling sounds against the wind as he made it to the balcony of her room in just one smooth leap.

Deep blue eyes fell upon a gentle pair that belonged to Stella the moment he jumped onto the wooden railing of her balcony. Clearly, she was shocked at his sudden appearance as much as he was with hers, causing her to be rendered speechless.

_Tsk, not good,_ Caelum thought. She should have been asleep by now.

But seeing as that is not the case, how would he explain _this_ to her?

* * *

_***A/N**: a 'Nian' is a character derived from Chinese mythology. it is a beast that attacks people and it lives in the sea/mountains. (you see these often on Chinese New Year. you know..the dancing colourful dragons? :))_

_comments keep me going so please leave some :)_


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